Taxpayers making contributions to charities that seek a charitable deduction have a myriad of reporting and receipt requirements to comply with. Code §170(f)(12) imposes additional requirements as to contributions of motor vehicles, boats, and airplanes. These various requirements are a major trap for taxpayers, as the IRS will often assert the most harmless errors or omissions in compliance as grounds for denying the deduction.

In a recent Tax Court case, a taxpayer lost a $338,080 charitable deduction for the contribution of an aircraft. . .

A recent case addressed whether owners who had to cease living on homestead property by reason of a court order to vacate the property and enjoining them from residing thereon due to unsafe conditions and code violations. . .

This decision deals with the validity of a disclaimer executed by one of the decedent’s daughters. Specifically, the Court considered whether the disclaimer was valid because it did not contain a legal description of the real property being disclaimed.

Code §199A allows taxpayers up to a 20% income tax deduction for business income earned through a sole proprietorship or pass-through entity. There are numerous requirements to meet, and one of these is that the business constitute a trade or business under Code §162.

Unfortunately, for rental real estate activities it is not often clear whether the activity constitutes a trade or business. To assist taxpayers. . .

The firm proudly announces that Jonathan A. Galler has become a member of the firm and will be joining one of South Florida’s premier estate, trust, fiduciary and guardianship litigation groups. Jonathan is a former Chair of the Probate Rules Committee of the Florida Bar. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 2003 and received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 2000. He is admitted to practice in Florida and New York.

The Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution requires a taxpayer have sufficient contacts with a state before the taxpayer can be subject to income taxes in that state. This has led to disparate results on when the income of a trust is subject to the taxing jurisdiction of a state.

One common fact pattern is a trust where a state seeks to tax a trust on its income because a beneficiary of the trust resides in the state, even though. . .